Home for the weekend

Loren was able to come home this past weekend. Our church had a father and son's camp out planned for Friday night, so Loren came home to take the boys to that. Tyden also had his preschool graduation on Friday, it was nice that Loren could be there for him. Here he comes to assume is rightful position, behind the wheel next to me.
The big graduate!

Tyden has had his ups and downs this year in preschool. Some days he was great and the next day we were worried he would not be ready for kindergarten. I was so impressed with how well he behaved during the short ceremony. After he received his diploma he placed it under his chair just like he was instructed. The kids tossed their hats and took a bow to the crowd. I was thinking to myself how well he was acting, calm and attentive, and was just about ready to mention that to Loren, when the real Tyden took off in a mad dash to enjoy the activities.

My Tyden is still in there, he has not grown up yet. I am very thankful for that.

Tyden's teacher was phenomenal. If we are still here in 2 years Jax will do the same preschool.

All my boys ready to go to the camp out.

That's me, super excited that ALL my boys are going on the camp out.

Saturday night we went out to dinner and Brigg's cheeseburger was bigger than his face. The boys kid meals were bigger than our adult dinners. We had tons of leftovers.

Wrestle all you can with dad because you won't see him again for 4weeks.

We love our daddy.

weeks 1 & 2

While Loren is away I will try and keep busy so that the time will fly by. Trouble makers

Tyden was standing dangerously close to the edge. I told them not to get wet and I am sure he was trying to make it look like it would have been an accident. Lucky for him I have been his mother for a while and we moved on to a new location.

The train museum

Our neighborhood does and annual Spring Fling with a parade, blow up jumpers and slides, carnival rides and tons of carnival food.

Brigg was able to walk in the parade and hand out candy with his tball team.

This is one of Tyden's favorite friends Ty, Loren likes to call the boys TY squared.

I always wanted a green bubble truck when I was younger.

The boys and I headed over to Mesa for the end of week 2. One of Loren's cousins is leaving on her mission so we went to hear her speak at church. The boys love to go and see their cousins and I was able to enjoy some time away while shopping with my Mom and sisters in law.

While we were there I learned some things about a family member and it made me think about my own life. While I was driving home I was evaluating my life, thinking about what I can do better and how I can appreciate the little things more. I will do my part.

*A super funny thing happened while we were in Mesa. In the in laws back yard in the morning there was a dead crow. Uncle Darren disposed of the crow in the trash can (with gloves on), before he did this he showed the boys. 5 minutes later Tyden comes running in the house with the dead bird in his bare hands. The little stinker climbed up and retrieved the bird from the can. I scared Tyden to death when a I started running full speed in his direction. He bolts to the trash can and instantly bursts into tears. I cleaned his hands like they have never been cleaned before. He said he just wanted to see it. Then we all sat down and finished eating our breakfast.

What I am thankful for...

Yesterday was a very weird Mother's day. Loren is out of town working for 2 months, so it was just the boys and me. The boys woke up and started watching cartoons so I slept as long as I could before I had to get up and get everyone ready for church. The boys requested waffles for breakfast. I almost made mine and sat back in my bed for my breakfast in bed, but instead I sat around the table with the boys and asked them if they knew what today was. Brigg casually responds, "it's mother's day,"with his usual "dah mom" attitude. Tyden and Jaxon jump in with excited "what, it's mother's day?" Brigg and Tyden both made me cards and presents at school during the week and Loren sent me the biggest bouquet of flowers. All of which are proudly displayed on my piano.

Church was wonderful! There were some great talks on mother's. One of the talks was from Ben Read and he talked about his Mother's. Yes I said mother's. When he was 3 his mom died while giving birth to the 5th child. One year later his dad married his aunt, his mom's sister Kim. Kim is a great friend of mine and she told me this a long time ago, but it is interesting when you hear about it from one of the kids. Ben was worried that he would now have a wicked step mom instead of a loving aunt. All of his worries were silly of course, because Kim does not have a mean bone in her body. I think the situation could not have been any better, those kids got a new mom who already knew them and loved them. Ben said that it does not matter if it is your birth mom or your aunt, a mother is someone who loves and takes care of you.

After Ben spoke the primary kids sang 2 songs. It warmed my heart to see 2 of my kiddos go up and sing. Tyden was standing at the very end of the line and next to him were two kids who were being extra silly. I thought for sure Tyden would be distracted and start playing with them, but he was so focused. He moved his mouth and every now and then he would remember what word went were. I was so pleased to see him try so hard...

proud mommy moment.

The rest of the day consisted of wrestling on the tramp, a movie, UNO, dinner with Bruce and Emily. We always end our Sunday evenings by watching America's Funniest Videos, there is no greater noise than my kids laughing.

Brigg did something yesterday that blew my mind. While we were playing UNO Jaxon received a draw two. Normally this is no big deal, my boys love to play this game. This time he was discouraged and did not want any more cards. ( he only had 2 left) Brigg quickly told Jaxon to play his draw two, which in turn would make Brigg have to draw 4. Tears instantly filled my eyes. For one moment he thought about someone else and how he could make them happy...

proud mommy moment.

Jaxon did not fall asleep right away and he came out and curled up on my lap. He told me he was not tired and I caved and let him stay up with me for a little bit. (I am a stickler about bed time=my time) He is such a cuddle bug, and thankfully he is still light enough for that to be comfortable. Jax has the sweetest smelling little boy sweat. He doesn't quite stink yet like his brothers at the end of the day. If I could bottle that smell. After a while he said he was ready for bed so I scooped him up and took him to his room and gave him one last kiss. I turned around at his door...

proud mommy moment.

I am thankful for my hub, him not being home yesterday made me appreciate him even more. I am thankful that Loren and I were married in the Temple so we can be a family forever. Not just till death do us part. I will always be his wife and our children will always be ours. I am thankful for my forever family.